Community Foundation Update (01/16/2021)

Alabama

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham has announced Cathy Wright as its new board chair. The foundation also announced the addition of local business leaders Nancy Goedecke and Vivian Mora to the board.

Arizona

The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona has announced an additional $60,000 in funding through its COVID-19 Community Response Grants program. The grants to six organizations will be used to provide adaptive equipment and mental health support to families struggling with ALS, fresh food to seniors and veterans, assistance for disabled, low-income clients, support for young immigrants, and assistance with basic needs for individuals who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

California

The San Diego Foundation has announced grants totaling $229,850 to help municipalities in the region launch age-friendly programs for older San Diegans. To date, the Age-Friendly Communities Program at the foundation has supported age-friendly initiatives in six municipalities — Carlsbad, Chula Vista, La Mesa, National City, San Diego, and the County of San Diego.

Michigan

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and the Pontiac Funders Collaborative have announced capacity-building grants totaling $770,000 to nonprofits in Pontiac and in support of larger city-wide projects. Recipients include Friends of the Clinton River Trail, the Pontiac Community Foundation, and Oakland University/Oakland University Foundation.

The Kalamazoo Community Foundation has announced grants totaling $1.85 million in support of fifty nonprofits working to advance racial equity in Kalamazoo County. Grant recipients include Bangtown Studio on the Go, Changes and Beyond, Gryphon Place, and Speak It Forward.

New York

The Adirondack Foundation in Lake Placid and several of its funding partners have announced that they awarded a hundred and seventy-five grants totaling nearly $1.2 million in support of COVID-19 relief and response efforts, the Adirondack Almanack reports. Grant recipients include Clifton Fire Backpack Pantry, the Mental Health Association of Franklin County, Plattsburgh Family YMCA, and the Rural Preservation Company of Clinton County.

Ohio

The Cleveland Foundation has announced phase two grants totaling more than $350,000 from the Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund. With the grants, the fund, which was established in March, has awarded more than $8.6 million to nonprofits in Cuyahoga, Lake, and Geauga counties. Recipients of the latest grants include All Faiths Pantry, the Cleveland Transformation Alliance, Joseph’s Home, and the Thea Bowman Center.

The Columbus Foundation has announced the hiring of Hena Masood as a community research and grants management officer. Masood joins the foundation from JPMorgan Chase, where she served as corporate responsibility metrics and reporting manager.

Pennsylvania

The Pittsburgh Foundation has announced twenty-two grants totaling $351,100 through its Small and Mighty grants program. Since its inception in 2016, the program, which is focused on community-based organizations with budgets of $600,000 or less working to address poverty and provide assistance with basic needs, has awarded grants totaling $1.6 million to sixty-three organizations, 57 percent of them led by people of color. Recipients of the latest grants include 1Nation Mentoring, the Arsenal Family and Children's Center, Brothers and Sisters Emerging, and the Foster Love Project.

Texas

The Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation in El Paso has announced a $1 million challenge grant in support of nonprofits working to advance health, wellness, and education outcomes in Ciudad Juárez. The grant will be allocated in annual installments of $200,000 over five years and will provide a dollar for every two dollars raised in the community. Fundación Paso del Norte para la Salud y Bienestar, a sister foundation of the Paso del Norte Community Foundation, will organize and administer the grant — the second Juárez-focused challenge grant awarded by the foundation. In 2020, Fundación Paso del Norte wrapped up the initial five-year challenge, meeting its $2 million fundraising goal and earning a $1 million grant from WGHFF.

Vermont

The Vermont Women's Fund, a component fund of the Vermont Community Foundation, is accepting applications for its 2021 grant cycle from nonprofit organizations in the state working to advance economic opportunity for women and girls. The competitive grant program will award grants of up to $10,000 for specific programs as well as general operating support to organizations working to create pathways to economic opportunity that are more accessible to women and girls in the state and dismantle systemic barriers to women's economic well-being. The deadline to apply is March 19.